Gateway Freedom Ranch

Testimonials

"I cannot say enough regarding my love and gratitude towards Lisa Marek and the staff of Gateway Freedom Ranch. God is good! Our daughter, Isabella, has been home for over two months now and I am so proud of the positive changes within herself she made at the ranch. She has blossomed into the girl I always knew she could be. She is 14 and there are a lot of behaviors we need to decipher on what is normal for a teen girl. As expected, she is testing her boundaries but rebounds quickly if it gets out of hand.

The honoring of Jesus Christ and the reinforcement that Our Lord loves our girls because they were wonderfully made out of HIS love for them is shown them every day at GFR. Daily devotions, youth group, field trips, positive reinforcement, parent workshops, church and teachings from God’s word keeps the Holy Spirit alive in their environment. With all the struggles our children face today between social media, technology, instant gratification, and regular media, the peer pressure is exponential. This coupled with individual deep rooted, physical and emotional struggles, I thank God for people and places like Gateway Freedom Ranch. Amen!
Lynn R.

“Our child would not do anything we asked and every response from her was a “growl”. We had to lock things, hide things, and we still found her going through all of our “stuff”. The tension in our house was constant and it all seemed to be centered on her. I’m not sure exactly how we found Gateway Freedom Ranch but it has been what we all needed to put our lives back on firm ground. We know we have a lot of work ahead but it would not have happened without the help we found there. THANK YOU!! Our girl was acting like a bad houseguest. Would not help out or do anything that we asked. She seemed to enjoy being angry and doing everything she could to keep our home in chaos. It wasn’t until she started school at Gateway Freedom Ranch that we were able to catch our breath. What was shocking was that we had not realized just how bad things had become. THANK you to all the staff for helping our family get our lives back and to start repairing our relationship with our daughter.” C & N Olsen

“Lisa – I wanted to drop you a quick note of encouragement and to acknowledge the facility, staff and superior care for the girls in your program. It is apparent from the time you walk onto the campus that it is a special place with extra special people working there for the right reasons, to change lives. This comes from you as the leader. Well done on so many levels. I could not be more pleased that in this difficult time as a parent, that I can gain peace by knowing my daughter is in your care.” Andy

“It is nothing short of a miracle that we found this wonderful place to help our daughter through this difficult season of her life. Gateway Freedom Ranch manages to weave the ‘work’ — the chores, behavior modification, counseling, and schoolwork — with an abundance of nurture and fun. Our family is blown away by our daughter’s spiritual and emotional growth, and we now have a realistic hope that we can be a healthy family again.” Amy & Mike

“We are raising our 10 year old granddaughter. Her mother had been in and out of her life and in and out of prison. Our granddaughter had become angry, physically abusive and was totally irrespective to us. Our little girl was starting to get into trouble at school; she was on the road to out of control. We tried counselors and medication but nothing seemed to be helping. Through the grace of God we found Gateway Freedom Ranch. Right from the first phone call we had a connection. After sending her to Gateway, within the first few months, we saw a remarkable change in our granddaughter’s attitude and behavior. We feel Gateway saved our girl from a path of destruction to a new path of spiritual life in our Lord Jesus and now we truly believe our girl and our family has a bright future. Thank you Lisa and her staff.” J and B – Michigan

“Dear Miss Lisa, I wanted you to know how much I love and appreciate you. Through the power of Jesus, you saved my life. Thank you for helping me with my many problems. You taught me how to master them. I also wanted to thank you for helping me and my mom build a loving relationship together. You have always been there supporting me and cheering me on when things look impossible. You helped me make the impossible, possible. Thank you. When God blesses you he puts a person in your life and you are that person to me. You always have hope in me even when I don’t. I love you alot.” K.G. – Michigan

“I am very thankful that my parents sent me to Gateway Freedom Ranch. I would have never learned to deal with my problems. I also learned to make the right choice to lead others in the right direction. When I go home I will tell people about Jesus and help people to accept Christ as their personal Savior. I no longer have anxiety, anger, or depression and look forward to being a good leader to my little sisters and to my older one too!” M.K. – Colorado

“While here at Gateway I have learned a lot of things. I’ve learned how to handle my anger, what lying leads to and rebellion. Of all the things I have learned, I have learned about God. Before I came here I knew nothing about God and I am happy I know Him now. I have also learned about the Father heart of God and know now why I acted the way I did. With being in this program I feel a love now that I have never felt before for my mom, brother, dad and my whole family.” M.S. – New York

“When I first arrived at Gateway, I had so much anger inside me. I even looked dark and angry. Since then I have worked through alot of things and during my time there I learned that work for God is not a competition. Everything was a competition to me before. Now God is working through me to help other people. God has given me a brand new chance at life and broken off my chains from sin and darkness.” H.M. – New Hampshire

“Thank you seems too frail of a word to express my total appreciation for changing not only the trajectory of my daughters’ life, but mine as well. Accepting my family to Gateway Freedom Ranch, was life changing for me personally. I needed hope; I needed to believe again and consequently I was re-introduced to my loving heavenly Father in the embodiment of a little petite powerhouse named Lisa Marek.”
“In the year that my daughter was at GFR, Lisa became a spiritual ally to me as she cried over my situation, cried with me, prayed with me and guided my thinking in the direction of Love, hope, and confidence. Lisa, you have my love and utmost respect, for the counselors and the staff, and for their endless compassion, and dedication to all of the girls and their families.”
S.I.

“While I have been at Gateway Freedom Ranch I have gotten over a lot of stuff. When I first came I hated my dad and was addicted to pornography. During my first few months I got saved and was getting educated during our daily devotions. By then I started getting over my issues with my dad and didn’t hate him anymore. God has done a huge work in my life and I have had a lot of healing. All the people in your life are there for a purpose, the good and the bad. They all teach you a lesson of some sort. Don’t take your family, friends, pets, summer, beaches or your freedom for granted. I hope my story impacts your life just as it has for me.”
L.M. – California

“My gratitude and heartfelt thanks to you and your staff for saving my granddaughter’s sanity and her life.”
Bob

“Before I came to Gateway Freedom Ranch I was closed in. I did not have good relationship or communication with my mom. I would not share my feelings. But now I have a really deep love for my mom. I am able to share my feelings and not run to other things.”
Student

“First off I just wanted to tell you that I miss you and love you so much! Thank you for teaching me that my family is important and that there is a God up there that will love you and forgive you for whatever you do! Thank you for working with me and helping me understand the root of why I act the way I act. Thank you for telling me the truth even if I didn’t want to hear it. I love you….”
Student

“I wanted to share with you how much we appreciate what you and your staff are doing at the Ranch. We had really given up hope on getting our daughter the right help. Endless counselors, therapists, physiologists, you name it – was not working for her. Our family and home was being torn apart, as is typical with a RAD child. I would lie awake at night wondering what would happen to this little girl. What future did she have if she didn’t receive the right help? It was a sad and hopeless situation.
When my wife first found the Ranch, I had some doubts. We had been down this path before and Montana is a long way from Florida. After talking to you, however, I began to quickly realize that you truly understood what RAD was, and your holistic approach and staff credentials offered a chance we had not seen before. Honestly, the fact that the Ranch is faith based was less a part of the decision making process – but have since learned it is the most important.
When we made the trip out in September, our daughter had been at the Ranch for almost a year. She honestly was unrecognizable! For the first time in the 5 years we had known her she was showing sincere warmth and love. The weekend was the most spiritual experience either me or my wife has ever had. What is happening there is truly amazing – giving hope where there was none, healing where there was so much pain. Unmistakably the hand of God rests on this small piece of mountain – I felt it like the warmth of the sun.
Lisa you are an amazing person and we thank you for all you and your staff do each day! God Bless.”
J.M. – Florida

Gateway Freedom Ranch is licensed by the State of Montana Board of Private Alternative Adolescent Residential & Outdoor Programs